Ships
SHIP CONSTRUCTION Cargo Space Is the amount dedicated to storage of cargo. Each ton of a ship's size reflects 2,700 cubic feet of space (typically 20 feet by 15 feet, and 9 feet in height) that may be used for carrying (nonliving or non-breathing) cargo. A 30-ton frigate will typically carry 7½ tons of cargo, about ¼ its normal tonnage. The remaining interior space is needed for crew, armament, and other necessities. For each “large” weapon added to a ship over and above its standard ordnance, a ½ ton is subtracted from the total amount available for cargo (the weapons and their ammunition occupy that space). Some ship designs not reflect 100 cubic yards per ton space in their design, these ship often not carry their full amount of cargo due to lack of space for such. Keel Length: Keel is the long dimension of the ship, usually but not always measured along the ship's keel. This is the long dimension of the gravity plane. Beam Length: Beam is the width of the ship, measured at the ship's widest point but not counting any oars, poles, or sails that may widen the ship without effectively contributing to its real tonnage. Shipbuilding Sequence 1. Pick Tonnage: determine hull size and cost 2. Select Ship Modifications 3. Determine AC 4. Determine MC and rigging required 5. Determine maximum/minimum crew size 6. Select helm type 7. Determine ship-mounted weaponry 8. Customize as desired Ship Tonnage and Hull Construction Select the size of ship desired. Table 6-1 equates general ship types with tonnages. Hull Size: The easiest way to decide on a ship's size is to find an existing ship can be used, or a new one can be created. If a new shape is desired, the DM should oversee the process. The cost of creating a hull varies widely with the materials of which it is made (see Hull Cost). The maximum dimensions of a new ship can be derived from its tonnage, since a "ton" is defined as 100 cubic yards of volume. To figure a ship's dimensions, picture a cube of volume equal to the ship's then slice it up into "building blocks" from which the hull is formed. In short, multiply tonnage by 100, find the cube root (to convert the cube's volume to its side length in yards), and then multiply by 3 (to convert yards to feet, rounding off). Thus, a 100-ton ship can be shaped from a cube 65 feet on a side. The cube sizes for various ship tonnages are given in Table 5-2 on page 65. The dimensions of the basic cube can be altered as desired (e.g., a 30' cube can be shaped in several ways: 90' x30 'x10, 50' x27' x20', 125' x18' x12, etc). Final sizes can be rounded down to the nearest 5 feet for ease of figuring. Ships will have thickness that differs by material so that all material come to 1d10 Hit Dice per ton. A typical wooden ship has a hull thickness of 3 inches which would require a group of warriors hacking at it with axes for 30 hit points of damage before causing a breach in the hull (and having to deal with the ships hardness rating). A ship made of metal thickness would be about 1 inch thick and those of stone being 2 inches thick (also requiring 30 hit points to breech the ships hull as well). Note: A ship's deck should measure at least 10' of vertical space (double for giant sized creatures). Thus, the minimum height of a three-deck ship would be 30 feet. Hull Cost: To find the cost of manufacturing the hull, multiply the ship's tonnage by the base cost on the Hull Cost, Armor Bonus and Hardness table (Table 6–4). The Armor Bonus column gives the Armor Bonus of the material. The costs can be altered by a material's scarcity, and by the availability of qualified craftsmen. The DM can change the costs as desired. If other materials are made available in the campaign, their values should be set according to the base Armor Rating and base MC of the substances. The tables assume human capabilities and construction methods. Thick hull will cost twice as much and grants twice as many hit points (see Ship Modification – Thicken Hull). Creating a craft from precious gems or metals does not necessarily give any bonuses to its statistics. Much expensive construction is mere window dressing — kings and queens from the riches of worlds often place the prestige of their pleasure craft before its performance. Time: The basic required for new construction is one day per ton in a dry dock capable of handling ships Table 6-1: Ship Types Ship Type (Tonnage) Speed 1. Fleet Flagship (80–100) ft/round 2. Fleet Flagship (60–80) ft/round 3. Large Cargo Ship (60–80) ft/round 4. Medium Warship (40–50) ft/round 5. Medium Cargo Ship (40–50) ft/round 6. Small Warship (20–30) ft/round 7. Privateer or Trader (20–30) ft/round 8. Coastal or Groundling Craft (10–20) ft/round 9. Shuttel (6–10) ft/round Table 6-3: Hull Cost, Armor Bonus and Hardness Armor Material (Base Cost) (Bonus) (Hardness) 1. Bone (1,000 gp) (+5) (4)' 2. '''Bronze/Brass**' (2,250 gp) (+9) (9)' 3. '''Ceramic' (750 gp) (+6) (3)' 4. '''Crystal' (5,000 gp) (+7) (7)' 5. '''Earthen' (1,100 gp) (+2) (5)' 6. Gems, Precious* 6.1 '''Ornamental Stones' (2,500 gp) (+6) (6) 6.2 Semi-Precious Stones** (5,000 gp) (+7) (7) 6.3 Fancy Stones** (10,000 gp) (+8) (8) 6.4 Precious Stones**(50,000 gp) (+8) (8) 6.5 Gem Stones** (100,000 gp) (+8) (8) 6.6 Jewel (Gem Stones)** (500,000 gp) (+8) (8) 7. Glass (5,000 gp) (+1) (1) 8. Glassteel** (8,000 gp) (+10) (10) 9. Leather (300 gp) (+2) (2) 10. Metal** (2,500 gp) (+10) (10) 11. Metal, Precious ** 11.1 Copper (2,500 gp) (+8) (9) 11.2 Silver (4,000 gp) (+8) (8) 11.3 Electrum (20,000 gp) (+7) (7) 11.4 Gold (40,000 gp (+6) (6) 11.5 Platinum (160,000 gp) (+10) (10) 12. Stone (2,000 gp) (+8) (8) 13. Wood (1,350 gp) (+7) (5) * The assumption here is the builder is not going to use gemstones that are very brittle or soft. ** Must have access to certain spells, skills, or materials via DM to make. Ship Modification I am introducing SHIP MODIFICATION, sort of a variation on feats that characters get. Ships get a base of three ship modifications plus an additional ship modification for every 5 HD the ship has (5 HD equals 5 tons) to a maximum of 20 ship modifications plus an additional 3 if ship is made of wood, 2 if ship is made of metal or stone, or 1 if ship is made of adamantite or mithral (If DM permits a ship may be purchased at extra tonnage, without increase in actual tonnage, so as to have more additional ship modifications. For each ton of ship the ship has 1 HD, which in turn is equal to a volume of 2,700 cubic feet (100 cubic yards, ½ HD is equal to 1,350 cubic feet ½ tons). The following is the size table chart used in the ship construct chart. Table 6-4: Tonnage/Cube Table Ship----------------AC---------''Bonus''------Creature Size''' Tonnage---------Modifier-----''Hit Points''------Equivalent''' 1. ¼ to ¾ ton boat-----(–2)------------''(+30)''------------- Huge 2. 1 to 5 ton ship--------(–4)------------''(+40)''--------- Gargantuan 3. 6 to 40 ton ship-------(–8)------------''(+60)''----------- Colossal 4. 41 to 320 ton ship----(–16)-----------''(+80)''----------- Titanic 5. 321 or more tons-----(–32)-----------''(+120)''---------- Titanic AWAKEN SHIP Modification Some living-ships are awaken have an intelligence rating greater then 2, and can perceive their surroundings. Prerequisites: Living Ship Benefit: Roll 3d6 to determine the ship intelligence and wisdom score. The ship gains 5d4 skill points with intelligence modifier being applied to each d4 rolled to determine number of skill points that a living ship has. A living ship never has less then 5-skill points regardless of its intelligence penalty. BURST OF SPEED Modification This ship can briefly increase or decrease its speed. Prerequisites: Nimble Benefit: The ship when traveling in a straight line can briefly increase or decrease its TM by 30 foot/round, even if it exceeds its usual maximum. It can only do this only once every four rounds and cannot make any “quick turns” in the same round. GHOST SHIP Modification The ship is an apparition that can manifest into reality. Prerequisites: The ship perished with all crewmembers on board. '''Benefit: The ship, crew and captain are now all undead. The ship has a Charisma score of 12–18 (10+2d4). The ship gains a defection bonus equal to its Charisma modifier. The ship also has 50% chance of being missed by any given ship. Normal: Most captains of ships will never slay all crew that is aboard a captured ship least he spawns a ghost ship. HAUNTED SHIP Modification The ship is haunted by either a friendly or more typically a unfriendly ghost or other form of noncorporeal undead. Prerequisites: The ship must have someone die on board whose spirit is restless. Benefit: While ship's crew might not been keen being on board a haunted ship, other ship captains are likely to avoid dealing with a haunted ship. Special: The DM should create the haunting spirit and determine its goals, in most cases this spirit is bonded to the ship. While boon at times, this ship modification is often a bane HORN TUBES Modification The horn tubes are used to communicate with remote areas of the ship. Benefit: Horn tubes consist of two tubes that run into every room on the ship. There is a receiving tube as well as a sending tube. By blowing through the sending tube, the user alerts the operator and can ask to be connected to a specific room of the whole ship. The operator connects the two tubes together, and the two distant room occupants can communicate with each other. When the communication is over, the operator unhooks the tubes, and awaits another communications alert. Except in the case of an all-ship bulletin, only two rooms can talk with each other. Three cannot be connected together. Also there is not limit to the number of communications that can occur at the same time. Cost: These items cost 1,000 gp for an operator's console that can hold tubes for 20 rooms (Ships that have more than 20 rooms must get more than one console, and there is no limit to the number of consoles that can be used on a single ship). Each pair of tubes costs 50 gp each. Each console takes ½ ton of cargo space. HIDE PLATING Modification Hide plating consists of covering the hull's outer surface with animal hides or similar materials. Using larger creatures is generally cheaper. Benefit: This gives the ship a +1 Armor Class bonus if the creature's armor class is better than the ship's AC. In addition, certain types of hides, such as dragon skin, can be magically strengthened to +2 or even +3 at great cost. The table below shows the number of creatures needed to increase the ship's AC, according to size. Restrictions: Until the number of hides required is attached to the ship's hull, the ship does not gain the AC bonus. Some creatures not have hides that would be suited for hide plating such as oozes. Alignment and culture may restrict use of these materials at the DM's option. (Most human and demihuman cultures would not allow the use of intelligent or near-extinct creatures.) Cost: The cost is 20 gp per CR value of each animal used in the improvement. (Even the weakest creature is considered ¼ CR for purpose of calculating cost of hide plating.) Needed per Size of Hide Ship Ton 1. Tiny (2 feet or less) 64 2. Small (2 feet to 4 feet) 32 3. Medium-sized (4 feet to 8 feet) 16 4. Large (8 feet to 16 feet) 8'' 5. '''Huge' (16 feet to 32 feet) 4'' 6. '''Gargantuan' (32 feet to 64 feet) 2'' 7. '''Colossal' (64 feet to 128 feet) 2'' INCREASED ARMOR Modification The ship's armor class is improved over what is normal for material and size. '''Prerequisites:' Reinforced Frame Benefit: The ship is of advanced design and as such gain's a +2 bonus to its armor class rating. Special: This feat can be taken up to 5 times. MINIMIZE CREW Modification The ship requires less crew than what is needed to man the sails. Benefit: The ship only requires one crewman per 2 tons of sails that he ship has. Normal: A ship typically requires one crewman per ton of sails that the ship has. NIMBLE Modification The ship is very maneuverable. '''Benefit: The ship's maneuverability rating is increased by one PLATING Modification Hull plating consists of covering the hull's outer surface with a stronger material than the hull, usually metal scales or plates. Benefit: Ship gains a +3 armor bonus, but its MC Rating is reduced by one. Example: A 60-ton Clipper ship is plated with iron. Its Armor Rating changes from 16 to 18, but its MC is reduced from Poor to Clumsy. The plating costs 24,000 gp. Cost: 400 gp per ton of ship (The metal plating is 1/8 of an inch in thickness.) QUICK TURN Modification The ship is can change direction very rapidly Prerequisites: Burst of Speed and Nimble Benefit: The ship can spin to face any direction at a cost of 2 TM point. In melee game, this movement must take place at the beginning or end of movement. RAM Modification The ship has a ram Prerequisites: Reinforced Frame Benefit: The ship gains the benefit of having a ram to use as a ships weapon. The ram can either be blunt or piercing. The damage the ship does is dependent on its size and speed it is traveling at (damage listed below is increased by 2d10 per TM that the ship is traveling at time of ramming). Size of Ship Damage Collateral Critical 1. Huge 2d10 17–20 (1d4) 17–20 (x4) 2. Gargantuan 4d10 17–20 (1d4) 17–20 (x4) 3. Colossal 8d10 17–20 (1d4) 17–20 (x4) 4. Titanic 16d10 17–20 (1d4) 17–20 (x4) 5. Titanic II 32d10 17–20 (1d4) 17–20 (x4) REINFORCED FRAME Modification The ship is less likely to suffer a collateral hit Benefit: When determining if a collateral threat is a collateral hit, the ship with reinforced frame is considered to have +4 AC bonus only for the purpose of resolving the collateral hit. REINFORCED HULL Modification The ship is more durable then normal. Benefit: The ship gains +5-hit points. Normal: For purpose of breeching the hull with none siege weapon the hull has 30 hit points per section of hull, 10 feet by 10 feet of area. Smaller section such as having just enough room to squeeze a medium sized individual through takes about 5 hit points with a hole about 4 feet in diameter. Special: A Ship may gain this ship modification more than once. SAILS Modification The ship has sails. Benefit: Ship increases its maneuverability class by one. The ship's minimum crew is one per ton of sails. Normal: Ships normally only have 10% of their tonnage being sails. SHIP OF THE LINE Modification A ship of the line built to perform better then most ships. Prerequisites: Reinforced Frame, 40+ ton ship Benefit: The ship gains +1 initiative bonus and +1 dodge bonus to AC. STREAMLINED Modification This ship is very fast. Prerequisites: Ship has minimum sails that either: follow the gravity plane and/or follows the keel and/or place at very rear of ship (example: Eagle Ship) Benefit: The ship's tactical speed rating is increased by 30 ft/round THICKEN HULL Modification The ship's hull is twice as thick then what it is normally allowed. Benefit: The ship hull is thicker requiring 60 hit points to breech and ship now has 2d10-hit points per tonnage. Wooden ships now have 3-inch thick walls, 2-inch walls for stone, and 1 inch for metal walls. In addition the ship gains a +1 bonus to armor class. Special: While this is a hefty bonus, any helm trying to move the ship be treated as if the ship is doubled its tonnage, standard designs of 51 spatial tons or greater cannot be moved if thicken by standard helms. For example a squid ship that is thicken hulled cannot be powered by a minor helm despite that it only displaces spatially same amount of space that a normal squid ship does. Ships that have thicken hull cost twice as much to construct. Crew Size The number of crew a ship can safely hold is always equal to its tonnage. (Safe transport is equal to four months of possible travel time before the air turns foul.) The minimum number of crew a ship needs to properly function (without MC penalties) is the first number of the crew entry in the ship statistics section of the ship description. Crew Minimum: Generally, it takes one crewman per ton of sails. In other words, if a coaster is 20 tons it has 2 tons of sails, requiring two crewmembers (deck crew or sailors) to maneuver the sails. The captain, officers, helmsman, and navigator are added to he the deck crew to get the minimum crew size. When minimum crew is not available the maneuverability class is reduced (see Combat section). Ships that are topped out are a bit more maneuverable. Crew Maximum: Generally, the maximum personnel load any ship can carry on a 4 month voyage is the tonnage multiplied by 3. Pirates and raiders may get away a multiplier of 5, so long as they operate withing no more than a week of their home port. Weapon Crews: the number of weaponeers needed per weapon carried determines the number of crewmen a ship needs to man all weapons. Weapons crews are not included in the minimum crew needed to maneuver the ship. Most ships designers make sure that the number of the minimum crew and the weaponeers fall within the safety limit, but some do not (The Clipper, for example, typically carries only half the full complement of weaponeers). Weapon Selection Only one-half of the ship's tonnage can be used for weapons.' While exceptions do exist and are dealt with latter. All ships, however, regardless of their size, are able to carry at least one light weapon. Heavy weapons take up 4 tons of space, Medium weapons take up 2 tons of space, and Light weapons take up 1 ton of space (Rams are considered light weapons for purpose Dual weapons multiply the tonnage by 2. Turrets: Normally, ship mounted weapons only fire in a limited arc, depending strictly upon their placement. A weapon mounted at the rear of a craft can only fire in the aft firing arc; a weapon that points off the starboard can only fire in the starboard arc. Turrets are rotating platforms that allow weapons to be turned to face different targets quickly. Protected Turrets: These turrets provide shielding for weapon crew. They are double the cost of standard turrets, but gives 50% cover (+4 AC cover bonus, and +2 Reflex cover bonus) to the crew manning that heavy weapon. Small weapons can be moved easily without a turret, but they can benefit from the cover a turret provides. A turret is typically made of metal (hardness 10, 30 hit points) ½ inch thick. Dual-mount turrets:'' A dual mount for a large ship borne weapon does not increase turret size; a dual mounted medium ballista takes a medium turret. If the players wish to develop unusual mounts, the DM must approve the details Weapon Inventory Ballistas: Ballistas include all devices, which throw bolts, javelins, and spears with greater force than possible by human (or inhuman) strength. Most are built along the lines of the crossbow, and are mounted on pivots on the ship's deck to fire at any targets. Ballista has a collateral threat value of 20/1. Bombards: Also called cannon, these items are very rare in the FR world, for a variety of reasons. They tend to be unreliable, both from the standpoint of being physically untrustworthy and more importantly, because the chemical or magical reactions they depend on sometimes of varying strength. If the DM chooses to allow bombards and other cannon to operate in a particular sphere, any critical hit has a 10% chance of igniting the powder magazine, inflicting 2d10 points of damage and 5 feet radius explosion per 10 charges in the magazine. A magazine typically can hold up to 100 charges and if a magazine has 100 charges it will explode for 20d10 points of damage in a 50-foot radius (naturally this damage and radius is tripled in the phlogiston!). Bombards are fixed in position once mounted, though they can be remounted in 1d4 minutes in a new position. Bombards use magical smoke powder to function. One shot uses 10 charges of powder. The scarcity of smoke powder (which is a magical substance in fantasy) makes bombards impractical compared to ballistas and catapults. Bombards has a collateral threat value of 17–20/1d3. Catapults: The general category of catapults is large, stone-throwing devices operated by springs, cranks, or flywheels. Catapults are fixed in position once mounted and can fire only one direction. A catapult firing forward is permitted to fire at any target across its trajectory to a maximum of 10 range increments. All ranges take into account the nature of wildspace and the Flow. Catapults can be loaded with stone shot instead of large rocks. Stone shots is most effective as an antipersonnel weapon and will not affect a ship as effectively as the damage drops from d10 to d4 (the ship's hardness will prevent much of this damage), but effects all personal within a 10 foot radius of the spot where it hits. Catapults have a collateral threat value of 19–20/1d3. Special: Catapults cannot attack ships boarding or within 50 yards.. Gnomish Sweepers: The saying goes, there is nothing in the universe that a gnome cannot make more dangerous, and when the small creatures turn their attention to weaponry, most intelligent species move to another body of water. Occasionally, the gnomes come up with an invention that works most of the time, which they then release on an unsuspecting world, usually cheapening the quality in order to bring the price down. Gnomish sweepers are an example of such a device. Still experimental, they are nothing more than a pair of light ballistas with a common mount so that they can be fired in the same direction at the same time. The two bolts are linked with a heavy chain. The intention of the chain is to be used as an antipersonnel weapon against enemy crews. Early versions of the sweepers used chains long and thin enough to capture a couple of small sized opponents, but soon worked out the bugs to the point that they could use them against human opponents. The other problem with the sweepers remains uncorrected — when the chain strikes something heavy, like a mast, weapon turret, or other piece of deck furniture, chain tangles and is useless. A gnomish sweeper affects all targets in a 10-foot square. It will continue on into the next 10 foot square away from the ship firing it unless it meets with large, unmovable object, which cause it to drop to the deck. In addition, every target within the 10-foot square is forced to make a Reflex save (DC 20) to remain standing, the same as if a Ship Shaken critical hit had occurred. The gnomish sweeper does not inflict hull damage but can be used as a duel light ballista in a crunch, with the same requirements for crew and reload time as a duel light ballista (the weapon does not fire unless both bolts are loaded). The gnomish sweeper's use as a weapon can be argued by military sage, but it should be noted that after an initial outpouring that saw most gnomish ships carrying a sweeper, practically no new gnomish ships carry the weapons. Gnomish sweeper has a collateral threat value of 20/1. Alchemist Fire Projectors: These devices shoot a thin stream of flaming, explosive liquid. Though they can be devastating in combat, like bombards they are not popular with ships that are worried about fire. They are popular, however among crews that do not leave their harbor. Alchemist fire projectors are only effective when two ships are close enough to begin boarding operations Projectors affect the target and all others within a 5-foot radius delivering 3d6 hit points of damage. On the following round the targets takes an additional 3d6 hit points of damage. Targets can take a full round action to attempt to extinguish the flames before taking this additional damage. It takes a successful Reflex saving throw (DC 15) to extinguish the flames. Rolling on the ground allows the character a +2 bonus. Leaping into a body of water that has sufficient volume to be fully submerged or magically extinguishing the flames automatically smothers the flames. Ships carrying alchemist fire projectors are more vulnerable to critical hits, and ships attacking them increase the critical hit threat range by one to determine whether a critical hit has occurred. For example, a medium catapult has a critical hit threat range of 20. Against a ship carrying an alchemist fire projector, this critical hit threat range is 19–20. Alchemist fire projectors start fires where they hit, even on stone and treated wood: flammable materials nearby will catch fire and feed the flames. (See fire in the next chapter). Alchemist fire projectors have a collateral threat value of 17–20/1d2 plus fire. Rams: The effects of ramming are covered in combat. They depend on the relative sizes of the ship doing the ramming and its target. There are several different types of rams, however. Rams are very deadly and have a collateral threat value of 17–20/1d4. '''Piercing Ram: A piercing ram is a long, sharp prow used to break open and break apart an enemy ship. An attack with a piercing ram can sometimes result in the two ships being locked together. Blunt Ram: This is a flattened ram designed to inflict internal damage by shaking up the smaller ship. It can also break up other ships, but there is no chance the ships will become locked together after ramming. Grappling Ram: The grappling ram incorporates one or more movable arms which attach themselves to an opponent's ship after ramming, locking the ships together, very useful during boarding situations. A grappling ram can also inflict damage on smaller ships. Turrets: A turret is a rotating platform. Weapons mounted on turrets can be turned to face different targets quickly. For example, a heavy catapult mounted on a turret can be swung to attack any ship in a 360-degree range. Turrets can also provide partial cover for the crew. Protected turrets are available at double the initial cost, and provide 50% cover (+4 AC cover bonus, and +2 Reflex cover bonus) to the crew manning that heavy weapon. Small weapons can be moved easily without a turret, but they can benefit from the cover a turret provides. A turret is typically made of metal (hardness 10, 30 hit points) ½ inch thick. Hull Armor: All ship's hulls come with a stand AC and Hit Points, determined by the ship's shape and construction. Plating a ship can increase a ships armor class. And thickening the hull can increase its hit points. One can also build a new ship of similar design with stronger materials! Metal Plating: Also called barding, plating a ship consist of covering it in metal plates or scales. This protection gives the ship a +2 armor bonus, but the Maneuverability Class is reduced by one step. This only works when covering ships that are made of material with hardness less than that of metal. The metal plating is 1/8 of an inch in thickness. Hide Plating: Much like metal plating, this type of plating only works if the creatures hide covering the ship has naturally better armor then what the ship is made of. This protects the ship as follows: ship gains a +1 AC bonus. This armor cost 20 gp per CR value of creature that the hide was taken from. The number of hides it takes to cover 1 ton of ship depends on the size of creature. It takes the following number of creature hides to cover 1 ton: 64 tiny, 32 small, 16 medium, 8 large, 4 huge, 2 gargantuan, and 1 for a colossal sized hide. (Some colossal creature may cover up to 2 tons!). Improved Maneuverability: Each ship has a maneuverability rating determined by the shape of the ship's hull and such standard features as sails, balloons, oars, outriggers, and other physical accoutrements. A ship owner can add to these existing features to improve his ship's dexterity and handling. This additional maneuvering equipment is called rigging, and requires both an addition of manpower and cost. Rigging: All ships have rigging of some sort. Rigging a ship beyond its standard results in an increase in the ship's maneuverability class (chapter 8: combat – shearing attack and Chapter six: ship modification – Sails). Rigging is many things, but never subtle. Enemies will know (if they are familiar with the hull) whether a ship is full rigged. Such ships are referred to as being “topped out”. Alchemist Fire: Alchemist fire is a sticky, adhesive substance. It usually is stored in stone or ceramic jugs, each jug containing enough alchemist fire for one shot. Loaded into an alchemist fire projector and lit, it fires a stream of flame, which can set almost any target ablaze. No one has yet refined it to the point where a hand-held projector is feasible. Alchemist fire is always flammable. If a cask is opened and comes in contact with fire, it will explode automatically, causing 3d6 hit points of damage to everyone within a 5-foot radius, and causing additional damage next round as if the alchemist fire landed in that exact same spot. Any other alchemist fire containers exposed to this explosion will also explode with identical results unless their containers withstand the damage. Exploding alchemist fire also causes a fire in the hold. Ballista Bolts: A ballista bolt is a large arrow used in all the standard ballistas. A standard ballista bolt will fit a light, medium, or heavy ballista. The difference in damage is caused by the power of the ballista's mechanism. Catapult Stones: Unlike ballista bolts, three types of catapults stones are available, one for each type of catapult: light, medium, and heavy. Only the proper sort of stone is really useful in each type of catapult. A copper-pinching captain can use any type of similarly sized and readily available rock to inflict similar damage, and some combats have involved tossing tables, dead bodies, cows, and other items across the sea as shot. Stone shot and Jettison shot: A bundle of stone shot or jettison shot can fit any catapult or jettison. Usually this type of shot is stored as packages of rocks in thick bags, which burst when fired. Almost any sort of stuff can be substituted in an emergency. Bombard Shot: Two types of shot are used in bombards: large, round stones and cast iron “cannonballs.” Using the latter increases the bombard's damage against a ship but not against crewmembers. (Stone shot often breaks up on impact, scattering sharp fragments, while iron is less likely to do so.) Bombards using iron shot have a +2 circumstance modifier to hit. Weapon Damage Table Weapon -----------------------Damage---------------''Range''------'ROF'----AB----''crew''---'dmg'---cost 1. Ballista, Light --------- 2d6 19-20/x3 ------- 900 feet --- 1/2 ----+3 --- 1'' '''Piercing' 400 gp 2. Ballista, Medium -------- 3d6 19-20/x3 --------''600 feet'' --- 1/3 ----+3 ----''2'' Piercing 600 gp 3. Ballista, Heavy --------- 4d6 19-20/x3 --------''300 feet'' ----'1/4' ----+3 ----''4'' Piercing 800 gp 4. Ballista, Dual Light ---- 2d6 19-20/x3 --------''750 feet'' ----'1/3' ----+1 --- 2'' '''Piercing' 800 gp 5. Ballista, Dual Med ------ 3d6 19-20/x3 --------''450 feet'' ----'1/4' ----+1 --- 3'' '''Piercing' 1,200 gp 6. Ballista, Dual Heavy ---- 4d6 19-20/x3 --------''300 feet'' ----'1/5' ----+1 --- 5'' '''Piercing' 1,600 gp 7. Bombard ----------------- 4d10 x3 -------------''300 feet'' ----'1/3' ----+3 --- 3'' '''Bludge' 20,000 gp 8. Catapult, Light --------- 2d10 x2 -------------''750 feet'' ----'1/2' ----+3 --- 1'' '''Bludge' 500 gp 9. Catapult, Medium -------- 3d10 x2 -------------''600 feet'' ----'1/2' ----+3 --- 3'' '''Bludge' 700 gp 10. Catapult, Heavy --------- 4d10 x2 -------------''450 feet'' ----'1/3' ----+3 --- 5'' '''Bludge' 1,000 gp 11. Gnomish, Sweepers ------- 2d6 x2 --------------''450 feet'' ----'1/4' ----+1 --- 3'' '''Slash' 800 gp 12. Alchemist Fire Proj.----- 3d6 18-20/x2 --------''150 feet'' ----'1/4' ----+3 --- 3'' '''Fire' 1,000 gp Table: Maneuverability Statistics MC-------Max---''Minimum''----MaxDex---'Speed'---Reverse Rating --Turn--''Movement''---Bonus----'Change'--Speed 1. Perfect--180°---''none''-------+6------------'1'------0 2. Good-----120°---''none''-------+4------------'2'------1 3. Average--60°----''50 yds''-----+2------------'2'------2 4. Poor-----60°----''100 yds''----+1------------'3'------never 5. Clumsy---60°----''200 yds''----+0------------'3'------never Speed change, or reverse, is the number of rounds it will take to effect such a change. Ramming Ramming is best performed against other ships that are of roughly the same tonnage or smaller. A ship must announce its intention to ram before initiative is determined. The process of ramming (steering to hit the opponent's ship, plus battening down all the loose gear for the impact) requires time, and is not something that can be done on the spur of the moment. The attack will take 2 rounds, during which time the ship cannot fire without risking damage to weapons and crewmembers. A ship may only attempt to ram once in its turn. It cannot attempt to ram a vessel once, miss it, then ram another vessel intentionally. Size of Ship --Damage---- Collateral--------- Critical 1. Huge -----------4d10 ------''17–20 (1d4)'' ------17–20 (1d4) 2. Gargantuan -----8d10 ------''17–20 (1d4)'' ------17–20 (1d4) 3. Colossal -------16d10 -----''17–20 (1d4)'' ------17–20 (1d4) 4. Titanic --------32d10 -----''17–20 (1d4)'' ------17–20 (1d4) In addition to any collateral damage that the ship succeeds on delivering for rolling a high attack roll, ship's struck by a piercing ram automatically suffers the Hull Holed and Ship Shaken collateral hits. There is a chance that two ships will become locked together when this happens (roll a d20, a result of 17–20 indicates that the two ship are locked together). In addition to any collateral damage that the ship succeeds on delivering for rolling a high attack roll, ship's struck by a blunt ram automatically suffers the Ship Shaken collateral hit plus one other collateral hit. Grappling Rams inflict no damage, regardless of size or speed. If a ship with a grappling ram strikes another ship, the two ships are considered grappled. Boarding with no penalty after ramming may ONLY take place with a grappling ram. Grappling and Boarding Often it is desirable to take over an opponent's ship without inflicting major damage. In cases like this, a side with enough manpower can overwhelm the other side by grappling and boarding. Certain types of ramming may also result in a grappling situation. Either side can grapple, but the moving ship has the first opportunity. The purpose of grappling is to bring the two ships together to allow either towing or boarding. The most common method for grappling is a large hook at the end of a long rope or chain. There are also ballista bolts, which are similarly equipped and can be fired into the opponent's hull. In either case, once the hooks have caught hold, the two ships can be hauled together. A grappling hook requires about 5 feet of space from side to side to be thrown at another ship in the same hex. The number of hooks that can be thrown depends on the length of the ship making the attack and how many hooks it can bring to bear. Two ships are considered grappled when the number of lines between them is at least equal to one-tenth of the tonnage of a smaller ship. For example, a 50-ton ship and a 30-ton ship are grappled if three or more grappling lines connect them. If there are fewer lines than this connecting the two ships, either ship can break them all simply by moving out of the hex. (This is a good way to pick up some free grappling hooks). A grappling attack inflicts no damage but links the two ships together. Both ships are immobilized once they are connected by sufficient grappling lines In combat, the boarding crew suffers the loss of all Dex bonus for the first round, and all their opponents have a 50% concealment bonus if within engagement range at the beginning of the boarding round. CREWS Crews are divided into four classifications: green, average, trained and crack. Their costs per man are below: Green: 2 gp per standard month Average: 4 gp per standard month Trained: 6 gp per standard month Crack: 6 gp per standard month Green sailors are those that can be picked up anywhere — everyone from groundlings eager to get on the seas to ex-mercenaries drowning their troubles in bars. They barely know the difference between a hawser and a ballista. They are the warm bodies to fill the ranks, but little more. Average sailors are usually found around docks, and other pockets of civilization. They have had sailing experience before in space, and are competent to run a ship fairly well. In any city of respectable size (such as the Rock) they can be found in sufficient numbers to crew a vessel. Trained sailors are the veterans of many voyages, often on a number of ships. They are numerous, but that does not mean they are easy to find. In any large city area in space, about 3d10 sailors can be found for hire. Of course, arrivals of new ships, ship crew mutinying or abandoning people may change that number. Crack sailors are not so much rare as very specialized. They are the best at hat they do for a particular captain and aboard a particular ship. Taking a crack crew from a nautiloid and putting it on a squid ship reduces it to trained status. The “crack” crew designation gives greater benefits than a trained crew. For every month at sea, their rating increases by one. So from Average to Trained, for example. Crack sailors are a special class, having other skills besides sailing, but the same sailing abilities as a trained crew. Officers - 1 officer is necessary for every 10-15 crewmen, or the ship suffers a 1 round penalty on all actions due to inadequate command structure. Every ship must have a Captain, Navigator, and Helmsman in addition to these officers. Category:Building Category:System Category:Miscellaneous